The visiting Chairman of the People First Party (PFP) James CY Soong said here Saturday morning that the people across the Taiwan Straits hope to "unite again", which is a historical trend.

After paying homage to Dr. Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), founding father of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) Party, Soong said that people from both sides across the Taiwan Straits should put on steam for the eventual unification of the Chinese nation.

The people from Taiwan and the mainland should also endeavor for their common prosperity, said Soong, who was previously a KMT member.

"The spirit of Dr. Sun is immortal. Who but people of our generation can shoulder his ideal of strengthening the Chinese nation and enriching the Chinese people," Soong said.

Soong and his PFP delegation were warmly welcomed by Nanjing people at Dr. Sun's mausoleum. Soong frequently hailed to surrounding people, who were chanting "love our Chinese nation".

Nanjing, capital of the Republican China ruled by the KMT before 1949, is Soong's second leg of his nine-day mainland trip.

He chose Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province, as his first stop and paid respect to Huangdi, regarded as common ancestor of all the Chinese people worldwide.

Before 1949, Soong lived in Nanjing for a couple of years at his childhood. Soong's family left the mainland for Taiwan in 1949when the KMT lost a civil war to the Communist Party of China (CPC)and fled to the island province of China.

Soong said progress in Nanjing, now capital of the economically-developed Jiangsu Province, are "stunning."

The PFP delegation is here at the invitation of the CPC Central Committee and its General Secretary of Hu Jintao.

In a similar endeavor, the KMT delegation, led by Chairman Lien Chan, just wrapped up their eight-day mainland visit Tuesday.

Source: Xinhua